Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A brief composition written or adapted for singing.
  • noun The act or art of singing.
  • noun A distinctive or characteristic sound made by an animal, such as a bird or an insect.
  • noun Poetry; verse.
  • noun A lyric poem or ballad.
  • idiom (for a song) At a low price.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A Middle English preterit of sing.
  • noun Singing; vocal music in general; utterance in tones of musical quality and succession, with or without words: opposed to speech and to instrumental music.
  • noun The musical cry of some birds (see singing bird, under sing) and, by extension, of some other animals.
  • noun A short poem intended for singing, or set to music; a ballad or lyric.
  • noun A particular melody or musical setting for such a poem, for either one or several voices (in the latter case usually called a part-song or glee).
  • noun Poetry; poetical composition; verse.
  • noun A more trifle; something of little or no value: as, I bought it for a song.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That which is sung or uttered with musical modulations of the voice, whether of a human being or of a bird, insect, etc.
  • noun A lyrical poem adapted to vocal music; a ballad.
  • noun More generally, any poetical strain; a poem.
  • noun Poetical composition; poetry; verse.
  • noun An object of derision; a laughingstock.
  • noun A trifle; an insignificant sum of money.
  • noun a trifle; nothing of value.
  • noun (Zoöl.) any singing bird; one of the Oscines.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a very common North American sparrow (Melospiza fasciata, or Melospiza melodia) noted for the sweetness of its song in early spring. Its breast is covered with dusky brown streaks which form a blotch in the center.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a common European thrush (Turdus musicus), noted for its melodius song; -- called also mavis, throstle, and thrasher.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A musical composition with lyrics for voice or voices, performed by singing.
  • noun by extension any musical composition
  • noun The act or art of singing.
  • noun A melodious sound made by a bird, insect, whale or other animal.
  • noun Something that cost only a little; chiefly in for a song.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a distinctive or characteristic sound
  • noun a very small sum
  • noun the act of singing
  • noun a short musical composition with words
  • noun the imperial dynasty of China from 960 to 1279; noted for art and literature and philosophy
  • noun the characteristic sound produced by a bird

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English sang; see sengwh- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English song, sang, from Old English song, sang ("noise, song, singing, chanting; poetry; a poem to be sung or recited, psalm, lay"), from Proto-Germanic *sangwaz (“singing, song”), from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷh- (“to sing”). Cognate with Scots sang, song ("singing, song"), Saterland Frisian Song ("song"), West Frisian sang ("song"), Dutch zang ("song"), Low German sang ("song"), German Sang ("singing, song"), Swedish sång ("song"), Norwegian song ("song"), Icelandic söngur ("song"), Ancient Greek ὁμφή (omphḗ, "voice, stevvon"). More at sing.

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